Inspirion 518 - Graphics and Power Upgrade?

The Inspiron line are not "gaming" PC's.  You obviously want a "gaming" PC so consider the XPS line that has higher wattage power supplies, upgraded video cards and a case that has more cooling and designed for prolonged use, you will get what you want from the start. 

Avoid the "slim" or "compact" case PC's as they are very limited on aftermarket upgrading. 

Why buy something that is not designed to do what you want and then try to modifiy it (which may or may not still overall be what you want).

The XPS systems are more $$, but PC's are like most electronic items - you get what you pay for.

I can't afford an XPS.  With a $500 price difference, that is a lot of money just to play one game.  My kids are NOT big gamers - they just want to play one game (SPORE) that has semi-hefty video requirements.

I can handle paying an extra $85-90 for a video card that will let them play their favorite game, but not $500.

No particular reason other than the price that was on the flyer.  I will try pricing out a 530 and see where it ends up.  I have a spare copy of Vista Home Premium at the house and I get build my own system for $700.  The way I see it, if I can buy a system that gets the job done for $750 or less, I will buy a Dell instead of build.

Thanks for the info!

Is there a reason for the slim Dell 518?  I only ask because it looks like the Dell Inspiron 530 is close to the same price.

Also, if you buy one with a quad core processor, then it comes with a 350w power supply, and the 6 pin pci-express power adapter.

I own a 6 month old model, and put a nvidia 9600gt in there, and it seems to handle whatever I through at it at high quality and 1440x900 on a 19inch LCD.

Good luck!

No problem  :emotion-1:

Like you, I saw no reason in spending double the money, just to get a PC to play one game.

One side note, if you do go that route with a dell 530, I would make sure that the card you get is a single slot video card, and not one with a second slot cooler.  I don't know if a dual slot video card would fit in a 530 case.

Not sure if you already have a monitor, but here is a good deal on Dell from techbargains.com:

Dell 530 deal w/ no monitor

$449 subtotal without a monitor/video card is not bad :)  If you add a 19 inch monitor, it brings the cost to 629.00...

Good luck in your search!

Good luck!

I have the same situation as hfwarner3; I bought a 518 for my son & daughter in October with only integrated graphics.

There are a couple of games on the Christmas list that will not run unless we add a great graphics card (my bad for not forseeing this originally!).

Are you sure the quad core comes with 350W supply?  I  asked Dell support in a chat session & they said "no".  Did you get the cheap upgrade video card originally (ATI 3450?).  That might explain why the supply was upgraded?

I have the Q6600 quad core CPU...how do I tell what power supply I have without opening up the case?

I just upgraded my Dell 518 - with a E7300 (instead of the 7200) - 4GB ram & Vistas 64bit.

Entire process took about 45 minutes, taking my time and drinking several cups of coffee.  I probably could not have cut it much shorter than 30 min.

I replaced the power supply with an Antec EA500D and the video card with a VisionTek Radeon HD4850.

I would HIGHLY recommend replacing the power supply, the 300W supply in the shipped version of the 518 is WAY underpowered for just about any reasonable graphics upgrade.

Process was very simple and w/o any probems.  Cable management with the Antec was the hardest part (a lot of extra cables), but I was able to stow them in some empty bays in the front of the computer.

The Radeon 4850 is rather large but fit OK, I had to be careful to move some cables around to avoid crimping them - but it wasn't difficult.

The Vistas "Windows Experience Index" was 3.5 before upgrading (based on the poor gaming graphics).  After upgrading the index for the gaming graphics jumped to 5.9...the "bottle neck" is now the processor with a index of 5.5...

MUCH improved performace, both from the Vistas index score as well as executing some graphics intensive programs.

Again, the upgrade was easy and IMO well worth it.

I have the same situation as hfwarner3; I bought a 518 for my son & daughter in October with only integrated graphics. There are a couple of games on the Christmas list that will not run unless we add a great graphics card (my bad for not forseeing this originally!). Are you sure the quad core comes with 350W supply?  I  asked Dell support in a chat session & they said "no".  Did you get the cheap upgrade video card originally (ATI 3450?).  That might explain why the supply was upgraded? I have the Q6600 quad core CPU...how do I tell what power supply I have without opening up the case?

Well, I am not sure of the 518s, but I do know for a fact that my Inspiron 530 absolutely does have a 350W power supply.

I did the upgrade in the 530 to a 8600gt, and it is powered off the motherboard pci express slot, so I don't think they would have given a bigger power supply for that.  I also have the Q6600.

Honestly the easiest way to tell on the power supply is to open up the case...basically 2 screws and you are there.

You could also try going to the dell support page, and click on the driver and downloads page.  You then enter in your service barcode that is on your dell.  I think that this will then tell you what is inside your dell case.

I hope this helps...

I have a 518 arriving tomorrow with the 3450 card and checking for another card, I saw the Evga Geforce 9400GT IGB card only requires a

300 watt PS. Is this card an improvement. It is available with a rebate.

I have a 518 arriving tomorrow with the 3450 card and checking for another card, I saw the Evga Geforce 9400GT IGB card only requires a 300 watt PS. Is this card an improvement. It is available with a rebate.

Hi, The 9400GT, is an big improvement on the 3450. You get an $15.00 mail-in-rebate HERE, the card is then $50.99.

The 9400 GT would not be much of an improvement over the HD 3450.  If you want a big improvement, you need to get the 9500 GT. 

My kids want a new computer for Christmas and I love Dell, so I want to get them a Dell 518 with the E7200 Core 2 Duo processor (3MB L2, 2.53GHz, 1066FSB), a 19" monitor, 4 GB of RAM, 320 GB HD, and standard everything else.  Since my kids want to play Spore on this machine, they will need a decent (but not awesome) video card.  The only option Dell offers is the ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB.  That's a pretty low-end card and I would like something more than that. I also understand that the Inspirions only come with a 300 Watt power supply so this could limit upgrading the video card too much. The 3450 is a half-height video card.  Does the video card HAVE to be half-height?  Is it a "room in the case" issue?  I am thinking of putting in the Radeon HD 4670 512 MB card just because of the bang for the buck, but I am not sure the card will fit or have enough power.  Any help would be appreciated.

I think the HD 4670 would be a good choice for the cost.  It is a good performing card and way ahead of the HD 3450.  Your power supply should be fine with this card as your entire system probably will not draw more than 200 watts with this card installed.  You are looking at around 40 more watts under full load with this card versus the HD 3450 and basically the same draw at idle.  The card will fit fine because you do not have a slimline case.  Most HD 3450's just happen to be low profile cards.  HERE is one to consider.

Ok.  Confused again since someone jumped in on this post.  Didn't catch that it goes clear back to November.

Hello,

My 518 power supply failed today and reading your blog, I see you upgraded to a Antec EA500D power supply.

Is this a simple retrofit into my 518 unit? I'm quite mechanical but not a genius. Are all of the required wiring connectors already attached to the Antec power unit and it is a simplet matching to the connections in the 518?

Also, does the Antec fit into the 518 easily?

Thanks